Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesian security forces have shot dead a separatist rebel in the restive eastern province of Papua, police said on Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off, police and the military raided a gathering of members of the rebel Free Papua Movement (OPM) near a beach in the Yapen Waropen district on Saturday, Papua police spokesman Pudjo Sulistyo told AFP.

"They were involved in shooting incidents against police before and had caused unrest in the area," he said.

"We told them to surrender but they retaliated by shooting at us first. A firefight took place and we shot one of them dead," he added.

Eleven members were arrested and firearms were seized along with outlawed pro-independence Morning Star flags.

Three security officers were wounded in the gunbattle, Sulistyo said.

The OPM has since 1964 waged a low-level insurgency -- often using bows and arrows rather than guns -- against Indonesian rule over the resource-rich, ethnically Melanesian region.

AWANG (Philippines) (AFP) - Philippine military officials on Sunday vowed to hunt down remaining splinter groups of hardline Muslim rebels after capturing their main camps in a week-long offensive.

The threat posed by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) has diminished due to the offensive that began Monday in remote parts of the troubled southern island of Mindanao, said national military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala.

"They have split into smaller groups and further operations must be done to follow up," he told reporters.

These operations will be "smaller in scale," he said, adding that they would also be held in coordination with the main Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The operation against the BIFF was launched two days after the government and the MILF successfully concluded peace talks aimed at ending decades of fighting that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The BIFF broke away from the MILF due to their opposition to the talks and has previously launched attacks to derail the peace process.

At a military camp in the town of Awang, the armed forces displayed items they recovered from the BIFF camps including bomb-making materials and pictures showing young boys being trained as soldiers for the militant group.

This supported military accusations that the BIFF were using child soldiers and that three such youths were among the 53 insurgent fighters killed in the violence.

One soldier was also slain in the fighting which included military artillery strikes of BIFF camps.

A BIFF spokesman had previously denied that the group was using children and said the military were manufacturing the evidence.

Among the other items captured in the camp were camouflage uniforms with MILF labels.

However MILF vice-chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar denied there was still a link between the two groups.

"Those are not MILF uniforms. Anybody can make those uniforms," he told AFP.

Military spokesman Zagala also said there were no signs that the MILF was cooperating with the BIFF.

President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday had previously vowed to crush "spoiler" rebels who were opposed to the peace deal.

Colombo (AFP) - Former Agence France-Presse journalist Mel Gunasekera was stabbed to death on Sunday after a break-in at her family's home in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, police said.

The body of Gunasekera, who had been working for the international ratings agency Fitch, was discovered by her parents at their house in the Battaramulla neighbourhood after they returned from church, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said.

Police have arrested a man in connection with the murder, Rohana said, adding that he had been in possession of Gunasekera's stolen mobile phone.

The spokesman said that police believe the suspect murdered Gunasekera after she recognised him as a labourer who had been hired over a month ago to paint her house.

"At that stage, he had used a knife from the house to attack and kill her," Rohana told reporters.

He added that police had taken fingerprints and had studied closed-circuit television footage.

Gunasekera, 40, was an assistant vice president at Fitch's Sri Lankan operation, a position she took up in 2012 after a five-year stint as Colombo correspondent for AFP.

As well as reporting extensively on financial and political affairs in Sri Lanka, she also made several visits as a journalist to the neighbouring Maldives.

She was also the founding editor of Lanka Business Online, which is one of Sri Lanka's best known financial news portals.

WHETHER because of deep personal ambition or a sense of having come to American cinema as an outsider, the New Zealand-born Russell Crowe's role choices have often suggested a desire to belong to great Hollywood traditions.

Gladiator looked back to historical blockbusters such as Cleopatra and Ben-Hur, Cinderella Man joined the line of boxing movies that includes Raging Bull, and Robin Hood directly overlapped with one of the signature performances of an earlier leading man from the Antipodes, Errol Flynn. Even Crowe's recent cameo in Man Of Steel – as Superman's dad – happened to take on a part formerly played by a cinematic legend, Marlon Brando.

And now the history man seems to be at it again. His big 2014 release, Noah, channels Charlton Heston and the biblical extravaganzas such as Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, that were popular in the 1940s and 1950s. By striking coincidence, Crowe as Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky, will be going head to head with Christian Bale as Moses in Ridley Scott's Exodus, another retro-religious film.

As these movies follow the 10-hour American series The Bible, it's clear that Christianity is hot in US culture for reasons that may combine the current cultural power of the religious right, the cheapness of the material (scripture is out of copyright) and the fact that many of the set pieces in the good book – floods, plagues, sieges at walled cities – happily parallel the plots of disaster movies.

Revealingly, the marketing line on Noah, in posters and an early trailer, presents the bearded boat-builder as "a man trying to protect his family", and one of the clips released so far shows Crowe delivering the line, "It begins!", which traditionally cues the unleashing of the special effects in apocalyptic films. The biblical story of the Flood is essentially The Day After Tomorrow with a bit of a theological subplot about divine intervention.

Actors like to talk about their character's "arc" and, in playing someone who has an ark as well, Crowe has selected a figure with many contemporary resonances. The raging elements against which the rain-lashed father fights can surely be taken – if members of the audience so choose – as metaphors for terrorism, the economy or, indeed, in these environmentally conscious times, the weather.

For Crowe, Noah feels like a canny choice. It is a role in which for an actor suddenly to look older – Crowe will reach 50 next year – will be regarded as realism rather than deterioration; it would look odd if he hadn't gone grey and whiskery. And Noah's arc requires him to be tremendously brave and macho, while also demonstrating notable kindness to animals: a crowd-pleasing combination of attitudes that would be hard to bring off in, for example, a film about a dad protecting his kids against terrorists in modern Detroit, Michigan.

Ever since Robin Hood, the accent has been on the performer's vocal choices, and the trailer suggests that Crowe has gone for a throaty rumble that might well be the speaking voice of a man who has spent a lot of time persuading large and dangerous animals to walk up a plank in pairs.

And, for Crowe, the performances continue to come in two-by-two: walking by the side of Flynn in Robin Hood, Richard Burton in Gladiator, Brando in Man Of Steel and, now, Charlton Heston in Noah. – Guardian News & Media

SIENNA Miller had looks, talent and a succession of steamy affairs with the likes of Jude Law and Daniel Craig.

Yet the English stunner's tabloid infamy didn't catapult her to stardom and Miller admits in a new interview with Esquire UK that her rocky off-camera life got in the way of her career.

"I sabotaged things," Miller tells the magazine. "I burnt a lot of bridges. On set, I was first to arrive, last to leave, best friends with the crew, totally professional, no (messing) around," she adds.

"But when I wasn't at work, I wasn't behaving the way you should. I'm very lucky to have a second chance in that town."

Miller hasn't been in a mainstream film since 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra, but in the ensuing years she did manage to bring some personal stability to her life, marrying actor Tom Sturridge and giving birth to a daughter, Marlowe, in 2012.

She also has a series of interesting roles in the works that she hopes will return her to the limelight – including the wrestling drama Foxcatcher opposite Channing Tatum and the comedy Business Trip alongside Vince Vaughn.

Miller has even made peace with Law, with whom she had an on again, off again relationship.

"I'm great friends with him and with his children," Miller told Esquire. "I love them, madly. Just huge love and respect for all of them."

It's not all soul-searching. Miller shows her newfound maturity and professional contrition by being photographed topless. – Reuters

NEW YORK: The adopted daughter of Woody Allen has spoken for the first time about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of the legendary Hollywood director during her childhood.

In an open letter published on a New York Times blog, Dylan Farrow, adopted by Allen during his relationship with actress Mia Farrow, detailed being abused by the director when she was seven years old.

"He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me," Farrow, 28, wrote in the letter.

"He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we'd go to Paris and I'd be a star in his movies."

It is the first time Dylan Farrow has spoken publicly about the unproven allegations of abuse which emerged more than two decades ago in the aftermath of Allen's acrimonious split with Mia Farrow in 1992.

Allen, 78, who left Mia Farrow after starting a relationship with the actress's adopted daughter from a previous marriage, Soon-Yi Previn, has always vigorously denied abusing Dylan Farrow.

A New York judge in the 1994 custody battle between Allen and Farrow ruled that the abuse allegations were inconclusive, but at the same time lambasted the director as "self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive."

Allen's representatives could not be immediately reached for comment on Saturday after Dylan Farrow's revelations. The New York Times reported that he had refused to comment.

His adopted daughter accused the Hollywood establishment of sweeping Allen's alleged crimes under the carpet by continuing to honor his films.

The director's latest movie, Blue Jasmine, is nominated for three Academy Awards at next month's Oscars, including best original screenplay for the director.

Farrow called on three of the stars of Blue Jasmine - Australian actress Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin and Louis C.K. - to examine their relationship with Allen, asking pointedly: "What if it had been your child?"

"Woody Allen was never convicted of any crime. That he got away with what he did to me haunted me as I grew up," she wrote.

"That torment was made worse by Hollywood. All but a precious few (my heroes) turned a blind eye. Most found it easier to accept the ambiguity, to say, 'who can say what happened,' to pretend that nothing was wrong.

"Actors praised him at awards shows. Networks put him on TV. Critics put him in magazines.

"Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse."

Allen was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills last month, an honor that was collected by his former partner and muse Diane Keaton.

At the time, both Mia Farrow and her son, Ronan Farrow, slammed the award.

"Missed the Woody Allen tribute," Ronan Farrow remarked on Twitter. "Did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age seven before or after Annie Hall?"

Mia Farrow later added: ":A woman has publicly detailed Woody Allen's molestation of her at age seven. Golden Globe tribute showed contempt for her and all abuse survivors."

When the abuse allegations first surfaced in 1992, Allen said they had been manufactured by Mia Farrow as part of the couple's custody battle.

"This is an unconscionable and gruesomely damaging manipulation of innocent children for vindictive and self-serving motives," Allen said in a statement at the time. - AFP

WHETHER because of deep personal ambition or a sense of having come to American cinema as an outsider, the New Zealand-born Russell Crowe's role choices have often suggested a desire to belong to great Hollywood traditions.

Gladiator looked back to historical blockbusters such as Cleopatra and Ben-Hur, Cinderella Man joined the line of boxing movies that includes Raging Bull, and Robin Hood directly overlapped with one of the signature performances of an earlier leading man from the Antipodes, Errol Flynn. Even Crowe's recent cameo in Man Of Steel – as Superman's dad – happened to take on a part formerly played by a cinematic legend, Marlon Brando.

And now the history man seems to be at it again. His big 2014 release, Noah, channels Charlton Heston and the biblical extravaganzas such as Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, that were popular in the 1940s and 1950s. By striking coincidence, Crowe as Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky, will be going head to head with Christian Bale as Moses in Ridley Scott's Exodus, another retro-religious film.

As these movies follow the 10-hour American series The Bible, it's clear that Christianity is hot in US culture for reasons that may combine the current cultural power of the religious right, the cheapness of the material (scripture is out of copyright) and the fact that many of the set pieces in the good book – floods, plagues, sieges at walled cities – happily parallel the plots of disaster movies.

Revealingly, the marketing line on Noah, in posters and an early trailer, presents the bearded boat-builder as "a man trying to protect his family", and one of the clips released so far shows Crowe delivering the line, "It begins!", which traditionally cues the unleashing of the special effects in apocalyptic films. The biblical story of the Flood is essentially The Day After Tomorrow with a bit of a theological subplot about divine intervention.

Actors like to talk about their character's "arc" and, in playing someone who has an ark as well, Crowe has selected a figure with many contemporary resonances. The raging elements against which the rain-lashed father fights can surely be taken – if members of the audience so choose – as metaphors for terrorism, the economy or, indeed, in these environmentally conscious times, the weather.

For Crowe, Noah feels like a canny choice. It is a role in which for an actor suddenly to look older – Crowe will reach 50 next year – will be regarded as realism rather than deterioration; it would look odd if he hadn't gone grey and whiskery. And Noah's arc requires him to be tremendously brave and macho, while also demonstrating notable kindness to animals: a crowd-pleasing combination of attitudes that would be hard to bring off in, for example, a film about a dad protecting his kids against terrorists in modern Detroit, Michigan.

Ever since Robin Hood, the accent has been on the performer's vocal choices, and the trailer suggests that Crowe has gone for a throaty rumble that might well be the speaking voice of a man who has spent a lot of time persuading large and dangerous animals to walk up a plank in pairs.

And, for Crowe, the performances continue to come in two-by-two: walking by the side of Flynn in Robin Hood, Richard Burton in Gladiator, Brando in Man Of Steel and, now, Charlton Heston in Noah. – Guardian News & Media

SIENNA Miller had looks, talent and a succession of steamy affairs with the likes of Jude Law and Daniel Craig.

Yet the English stunner's tabloid infamy didn't catapult her to stardom and Miller admits in a new interview with Esquire UK that her rocky off-camera life got in the way of her career.

"I sabotaged things," Miller tells the magazine. "I burnt a lot of bridges. On set, I was first to arrive, last to leave, best friends with the crew, totally professional, no (messing) around," she adds.

"But when I wasn't at work, I wasn't behaving the way you should. I'm very lucky to have a second chance in that town."

Miller hasn't been in a mainstream film since 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra, but in the ensuing years she did manage to bring some personal stability to her life, marrying actor Tom Sturridge and giving birth to a daughter, Marlowe, in 2012.

She also has a series of interesting roles in the works that she hopes will return her to the limelight – including the wrestling drama Foxcatcher opposite Channing Tatum and the comedy Business Trip alongside Vince Vaughn.

Miller has even made peace with Law, with whom she had an on again, off again relationship.

"I'm great friends with him and with his children," Miller told Esquire. "I love them, madly. Just huge love and respect for all of them."

It's not all soul-searching. Miller shows her newfound maturity and professional contrition by being photographed topless. – Reuters

NEW YORK: The adopted daughter of Woody Allen has spoken for the first time about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of the legendary Hollywood director during her childhood.

In an open letter published on a New York Times blog, Dylan Farrow, adopted by Allen during his relationship with actress Mia Farrow, detailed being abused by the director when she was seven years old.

"He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me," Farrow, 28, wrote in the letter.

"He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we'd go to Paris and I'd be a star in his movies."

It is the first time Dylan Farrow has spoken publicly about the unproven allegations of abuse which emerged more than two decades ago in the aftermath of Allen's acrimonious split with Mia Farrow in 1992.

Allen, 78, who left Mia Farrow after starting a relationship with the actress's adopted daughter from a previous marriage, Soon-Yi Previn, has always vigorously denied abusing Dylan Farrow.

A New York judge in the 1994 custody battle between Allen and Farrow ruled that the abuse allegations were inconclusive, but at the same time lambasted the director as "self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive."

Allen's representatives could not be immediately reached for comment on Saturday after Dylan Farrow's revelations. The New York Times reported that he had refused to comment.

His adopted daughter accused the Hollywood establishment of sweeping Allen's alleged crimes under the carpet by continuing to honor his films.

The director's latest movie, Blue Jasmine, is nominated for three Academy Awards at next month's Oscars, including best original screenplay for the director.

Farrow called on three of the stars of Blue Jasmine - Australian actress Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin and Louis C.K. - to examine their relationship with Allen, asking pointedly: "What if it had been your child?"

"Woody Allen was never convicted of any crime. That he got away with what he did to me haunted me as I grew up," she wrote.

"That torment was made worse by Hollywood. All but a precious few (my heroes) turned a blind eye. Most found it easier to accept the ambiguity, to say, 'who can say what happened,' to pretend that nothing was wrong.

"Actors praised him at awards shows. Networks put him on TV. Critics put him in magazines.

"Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse."

Allen was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills last month, an honor that was collected by his former partner and muse Diane Keaton.

At the time, both Mia Farrow and her son, Ronan Farrow, slammed the award.

"Missed the Woody Allen tribute," Ronan Farrow remarked on Twitter. "Did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age seven before or after Annie Hall?"

Mia Farrow later added: ":A woman has publicly detailed Woody Allen's molestation of her at age seven. Golden Globe tribute showed contempt for her and all abuse survivors."

When the abuse allegations first surfaced in 1992, Allen said they had been manufactured by Mia Farrow as part of the couple's custody battle.

"This is an unconscionable and gruesomely damaging manipulation of innocent children for vindictive and self-serving motives," Allen said in a statement at the time. - AFP

SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rica's centrist ruling party candidate Johnny Araya took a slight early lead in Sunday's presidential election and was on course to face a tough run-off after a strong showing by two leftist parties, partial results showed.

Araya, a former mayor of the capital San Jose, had around 30.6 percent support with votes in from 50.3 percent of polling booths, while leftist newcomer Luis Guillermo Solis was in second place with around 29.4 percent. Left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Villalta was third with 17.4 percent.

An April run-off between the top two vote-getters is required if no single candidate wins more than 40 percent of the vote on Sunday.

Araya could face the prospect of a consolidated left-wing vote in the run-off, which could spell defeat for his ruling National Liberation Party.

Araya, 56, has promised to reduce poverty and has sought to distance himself from President Laura Chinchilla's scandal-plagued government while painting rivals as radicals.

Araya on Sunday proclaimed his candidacy "the safest, most responsible option" for Central America's second-largest economy.

But voter anger over government corruption buoyed a challenge from his left-leaning rivals, who also promised to tackle inequality in the coffee-producing nation.

Gaffes, such as underestimating the price of milk in an interview, distanced Araya from some voters. A prosecutor's probe into allegations of abuse of authority and embezzlement while Araya was mayor of San Jose have also dampened his appeal.

Solis, who cut his teeth working in Costa Rica's foreign ministry, has appealed to voters by pledging to improve infrastructure, overhaul the country's universal health care provider and stamp out corruption.

That resonated with some voters after Chinchilla sparked outrage by accepting flights on a private jet, despite laws barring public officials from accepting sizeable gifts.

Solis nudged ahead of Villalta after trailing in polls before the vote. But some see Araya as the more moderate option.

"There are two extremes, the extreme right ... and communism. We favor the center and that's the best option for Costa Rica," said David Perez, 21, who works for a family-owned business.

The eventual winner will have to tackle growing government debt that totals more than half of gross domestic product.

"If they don't do something, then this somewhat negative trend on the debt could continue and that could have an impact on the credit rating," said Joydeep Mukherji, a sovereign credit analyst with Standard & Poor's, which rates Costa Rica at BB with a stable outlook.

Araya has vowed to tackle the deficit by limiting public sector bonuses, creating a capital gains tax and shifting to a value-added tax.

SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rica's centrist ruling party hopeful Johnny Araya had a strong early lead in Sunday's presidential contest, but could still face a run-off, preliminary election results showed.

Araya, a former mayor of San Jose, had around 36 percent of the vote with 9 percent of polling booths counted, while left-leaning newcomer Luis Guillermo Solis lay in second with 21 percent. Left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Villalta was in third with 17.4 percent.

An April run-off between the top two vote-getters is required if no single candidate wins more than 40 percent of the vote.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Simon Gardner)

You are subscribed to email updates from WorldTo stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.

Emerging markets <.MSCIEF> were down 6.6 percent for the month - their worst January since 2009 - after another turbulent day on Friday, when the Russian rouble slid and bond yields rose sharply across the board.

"Markets in the major economies will continue to be subject to trends in emerging markets (this) week, both in terms of overall currency and stock market sentiment," said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec.

First up are purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs), which survey thousands of businesses worldwide. While the PMIs from Europe and the United States are expected to show more growth, particular attention will be paid to those from China.

"There are … potential flashpoints in the form of various Chinese PMI indices - signs of a slowdown in the pace of economic activity in China would result in the risk-off lights starting to flash again."

The other key data will be Friday's jobs report from the United States.

The world's No.1 economy added the fewest workers in nearly three years in December - just 74,000 non-farm jobs - although the consensus of economists polled by Reuters points to a rebound in January.

Still, there could be potential for another nasty surprise.

"As if forecasting the monthly change in nonfarm payrolls were not hard enough, the outlook for January payrolls is clouded by poor weather, difficult seasonal adjustment, annual benchmark revisions, and methodology changes," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

CENTRAL BANKS IN FOCUS

Fears about emerging economies intensified after Turkey, South Africa and India failed to halt a wholesale capital flight by raising their interest rates. The Federal Reserve's decision to withdraw more of its monetary stimulus and weak Chinese data added to the concerns.

With Turkey and South Africa's hikes in particular aimed at countering steep currency depreciations, the pressure is on other emerging central banks to follow suit.

"One of the underlying issues is that the market believes that real rates are just too low in emerging markets in an environment of falling liquidity provision," said Ishitaa Sharma, global markets analyst at Citi, in a note to clients.

"Given that the Fed is likely going to continue tapering according to schedule, the market is likely going to continue to demand higher real interest rates from at least the more vulnerable emerging markets."

India's central bank governor, Raghuram Rajan, last week criticized what he called a breakdown in global monetary coordination, saying developed countries could not wash their hands of the turmoil their actions caused in emerging markets.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will have a chance to address the emerging market worries after the central bank's policy decision on Thursday.

Euro zone inflation fell to 0.7 percent in January, putting the ECB under further pressure to meet its target of keeping inflation below but close to 2 percent.

"This outcome clearly raises the chances of ECB policy action," said Nick Matthews, economist at Nomura, who raised the prospect of more interest rate cuts to record lows.

"While we recognize that the probability of further easing has risen significantly, on balance we believe that the ECB might want to accumulate a bit more information before taking such a decision."

The Bank of England, also meeting on Thursday, is not expected to announce any change to interest rates, although there is a small chance it might make a statement to clarify its forward guidance.

More likely, though, it will wait until its quarterly inflation report next week to reveal how it will conduct forward guidance from here.

Looking further ahead, Bank of Japan policymakers meet next week to set monetary policy. The sharp selloff in emerging markets plays into the hands of those at the BoJ who fear the pick-up in exports is lackluster and so may require extra monetary stimulus sooner rather than later.- Reuters

LONDON: Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to cut 1.5 billion pounds ($2.47 billion) from the money it pays defence companies annually to help maintain and retool its military equipment, the Financial Times reported.

An MoD spokeswoman declined to confirm the figure, but said the MoD was looking to make savings across all of its contracts.

The paper said the cuts, which are equivalent to a fifth of the MoD's 7.5 billion pound annual spending on support contracts, would likely take several years to roll out. (http://link.reuters.com/gep56v)

The ministry would need to wait until many of its existing support contracts expired before it could renegotiate them, the FT added.

The Defence Equipment and Support unit, the MoD's procurement arm, spends about half its annual budget on servicing equipment, outsourcing the work to companies such as BAE Systems and Babcock International Group.- Reuters

MUMBAI: For global automakers, the dusty backroads of rural India could be the new El Dorado.

As economic torpor suffocates demand for new cars in India's megacities, incomes are growing faster in small towns and country areas. That's pushing the likes of General Motors <GM.N> and Honda Motor Co <7267.T> to fan out in search of buyers in places where fewer than 20 people in every thousand own a car - for now.

Standing firmly in the way are strong home-grown brands. With local services plentiful and repairs cheap, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd <MRTI.NS>, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd <MAHM.NS>, and Tata Motors Ltd <TAMO.NS> dominate the rural vehicle market where foreign automakers are seen as expensive and distant.

Foreign companies showing cars at the Delhi auto show, starting on Wednesday, have already poured billions of dollars into factories, product development and marketing in India's once-booming car market.

Still, no foreign car maker has a share of more than 6 percent in India's passenger vehicle market aside from South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co <005380.KS> with 15 percent.

Car makers see success in rural areas as vital, as slow economic growth, high interest rates and rising fuel prices mean overall sales are headed for their second straight year of decline. Though the need for rural sales has been recognized, success could yet prove illusory.

Japan's Honda entered India nearly two decades ago but will still have only 170 dealerships by end-March, compared with market-leading Maruti's current 1,300. Of the 60 sales outlets Honda plans to open in India in the fiscal year that starts in April, 43 will be in small towns.

"It's very easy to travel once in three-four years to a place 100 kilometers away to buy," said Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Honda India. "It becomes a bit of a hassle for the customer to travel 100 or 150 kilometers every few months to get the car serviced."

Like most foreign carmakers in India, however, Honda is seen as a premium brand, beyond the reach of price-sensitive rural buyers. To expand its potential market, Honda last year launched the entry-levelAmaze sedan, which starts at about 520,000 rupees ($8,300) and has helped it nearly double its market share to 4.7 percent.

Smaller towns and cities account for nearly two-thirds of Amaze sales, the company said.

"One of the prerequisites for any automaker to be successful in rural areas would be availability of after-market services. Since the population is more dispersed in rural areas, what we probably need is services like mobile workshops."

Selling foreign cars to rural India remains tough. Deepanshu Rai, who lives in Raigad, a small town about 100 kilometers from Mumbai, said he never considered buying a foreign model when he bought his first car about 10 months ago, an Alto 800 hatchback made by Maruti.

"If you buy a foreign brand, it won't have a service centre everywhere. You may have to travel far even for a small issue," said the 22-year-old Rai, who works for a mapping company.

MIGHTY MARUTI

For Maruti, the opposite is true. Founded in Gurgaon, outside the Indian capital of New Delhi in 1982, Maruti accounts for nearly one in two new cars sold in India.

Though it has drawn on the small-car knowhow of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp <7269.T>, its majority shareholder, Maruti is seen as so home-grown that in the 1980s, the word "Maruti" was used generically to mean any car.

Next in line will be Nissan Motor Co's <7201.T> relaunched low-end Datsun brand. At the Delhi auto show Datsun will showcase a hatchback to compete with Maruti's Alto 800, which starts at 280,000 rupees.

Areas with populations of less than 10,000 people account for 31 percent of Maruti's sales so far in the fiscal year that ends in March, said Mayank Pareek, Maruti's chief operating officer for marketing and sales, adding the company began a heavy push to target rural buyers five years ago.

"Unlike urban markets, in the rural markets customers are very loyal. So you get a big first-mover advantage," he said.

General Motors has been selling cars in India since 1996. It has a market share of just 3.5 percent and 273 dealerships, increasing to 300 by the end of the next fiscal year. Most of the new outlets will be in smaller towns and rural areas, said P. Balendran, vice president at GM India.

"With higher growth expected in rural areas as compared with the metros, we expect the share of rural markets in our overall sales increasing in the future," he said.

One thing that is certain in the push by global car makers beyond India's big cities is more choice for the growing number of rural buyers. Until a few years ago, many rural buyers essentially had just one choice to make - the color of their Maruti 800, the hatchback predecessor to the Alto.

Krishnakant Shinde, a farmer in Gove, a village about 250 kilometers from Mumbai, says he was the first in his village to buy a Volkswagen AG <VOWG_p.DE> when he upgraded last October to a Vento sedan from a Maruti Swift Dzire entry-level sedan.

Volkswagen, which has market share of just 2.25 percent in India, said it doesn't plan new outlets in the country this year. But it opened a dealership in Satara, a regional hub about 15 kilometers from Shinde's home, about two years ago.

"Volkswagen the company wasn't new to me, but I didn't buy earlier as I was worried about spare parts and servicing," said Shinde, a sugar cane and dairy farmer.

"Now, since they have opened a showroom and service centre in Satara, I decided to buy."

NEW YORK, Feb 02, 2014 (AFP) - Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment of a suspected drug overdose on Sunday, law enforcement officials said. He was 46.

The enigmatic star, who was hailed as the finest character actor of his generation, won an Oscar in 2006 as best actor for "Capote" and was nominated for three further Academy Awards.

A substance thought to be heroin was found at the scene when police responded to the actor's home in Manhattan's West Village after receiving a call from one of his friends.

"It appears to be an alleged overdose," one police official told AFP. The actor was found on the bathroom floor with a syringe in his arm, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, the officer added.

"Two glassine envelopes contained alleged heroin," another officer told AFP. There were no pills and no sign that the actor had been drinking, the first officer had said earlier.

Law enforcement officials refused to comment further until after the arrival and report of the medical examiner.

Hoffman, whose two-decade career made him one of the most liked and respected actors in Hollywood, leaves behind his partner, costume designer Mimi O'Donnell, and three children.

His family released a brief statement through the media saying they were devastated, thanking people for their love and support.

"This is a tragic and sudden loss and we ask that you respect our privacy during this time of grieving.

Please keep Phil in your thoughts and prayers," the statement added.

New York detectives and officers secured the street outside the actor's home, and were seen entering and exiting the red brick, six-floor apartment building, an AFP reporter said.

A crowd of journalists and neighbors gathered, and a red rose and a bouquet of white roses were laid at the entrance.

One neighbor who gave her name as Janine, said she was accustomed to seeing the actor and his family out and about.

"They were always in the 'hood," she told AFP. "My husband saw him last week... They were a part of the community here."

Tributes quickly poured in from fellow celebrities and actors, who took to twitter to express their sorrow.
"A truly kind, wonderful man and one of our greatest actors - ever," wrote Mia Farrow.

Born Philip Hoffman in July 1967 in New York state, he was the third of four children of a Xerox executive and a feminist housewife who divorced when he was nine.

He earned a drama degree from New York University in 1989, though he fell into alcohol and drug abuse for a while.

Incorporating his grandfather's name, Seymour, between his given names, he made his big screen debut in a 1991 independent film called "Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole."

In 1997, he made waves as a closeted gay crew member in Paul Thomas Anderson's porn industry tale "Boogie Nights," followed by a quirky turn in the Coen brothers' "The Big Lebowski" (1998).

In Anthony Minghella's crime thriller "The Talented Mr Ripley," he stole the show from co-stars Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow with his supporting role as slippery and duplicitous preppie Freddie Miles.

The late Minghella once said that Hoffman was an extraordinary actor "cursed, sometimes, by his own gnawing intelligence, his own discomfort with acting".

"There are few actors more demanding in front of camera, less demanding away from it."

But, for all his success, Hoffman was a reluctant occupant of the limelight and in an interview with the Guardian published in October 2011 said he thought everyone struggles with self-love.

"I think that's pretty much the human condition, you know, waking up and trying to live your day in a way that you can go to sleep and feel OK about yourself," he was quoted as saying.

After his Oscar-winning turn in "Capote", Hoffman had three more Oscar nominations as a supporting actor in "Charlie Wilson's War" in 2008, "Doubt" in 2009 and "The Master" in 2013.

NEW YORK: The adopted daughter of Woody Allen has spoken for the first time about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of the legendary Hollywood director during her childhood.

In an open letter published on a New York Times blog, Dylan Farrow, adopted by Allen during his relationship with actress Mia Farrow, detailed being abused by the director when she was seven years old.

"He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me," Farrow, 28, wrote in the letter.

"He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we'd go to Paris and I'd be a star in his movies."

It is the first time Dylan Farrow has spoken publicly about the unproven allegations of abuse which emerged more than two decades ago in the aftermath of Allen's acrimonious split with Mia Farrow in 1992.

Allen, 78, who left Mia Farrow after starting a relationship with the actress's adopted daughter from a previous marriage, Soon-Yi Previn, has always vigorously denied abusing Dylan Farrow.

A New York judge in the 1994 custody battle between Allen and Farrow ruled that the abuse allegations were inconclusive, but at the same time lambasted the director as "self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive."

Allen's representatives could not be immediately reached for comment on Saturday after Dylan Farrow's revelations. The New York Times reported that he had refused to comment.

His adopted daughter accused the Hollywood establishment of sweeping Allen's alleged crimes under the carpet by continuing to honor his films.

The director's latest movie, Blue Jasmine, is nominated for three Academy Awards at next month's Oscars, including best original screenplay for the director.

Farrow called on three of the stars of Blue Jasmine - Australian actress Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin and Louis C.K. - to examine their relationship with Allen, asking pointedly: "What if it had been your child?"

"Woody Allen was never convicted of any crime. That he got away with what he did to me haunted me as I grew up," she wrote.

"That torment was made worse by Hollywood. All but a precious few (my heroes) turned a blind eye. Most found it easier to accept the ambiguity, to say, 'who can say what happened,' to pretend that nothing was wrong.

"Actors praised him at awards shows. Networks put him on TV. Critics put him in magazines.

"Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse."

Allen was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills last month, an honor that was collected by his former partner and muse Diane Keaton.

At the time, both Mia Farrow and her son, Ronan Farrow, slammed the award.

"Missed the Woody Allen tribute," Ronan Farrow remarked on Twitter. "Did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age seven before or after Annie Hall?"

Mia Farrow later added: ":A woman has publicly detailed Woody Allen's molestation of her at age seven. Golden Globe tribute showed contempt for her and all abuse survivors."

When the abuse allegations first surfaced in 1992, Allen said they had been manufactured by Mia Farrow as part of the couple's custody battle.

"This is an unconscionable and gruesomely damaging manipulation of innocent children for vindictive and self-serving motives," Allen said in a statement at the time. - AFP

PUTRAJAYA: Don't be alarmed if you seem to be bombarded lately with "love letters" from your bank, insurance agent and even Indah Water, vowing to protect your personal data.

It is all part of the compliance process of these service providers to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 or PDPA.

Enforced on Nov 15 last year, the Act requires companies and organisations that handle consumers' personal data in commercial transactions (known as data users) to notify them and get their agreement for collecting and processing the information within three months of the enforcement date.

Based on this principle, if you have received notification from a data user that you don't remember signing up with, or no longer want to conduct business with, you have the right to request for your personal data to be deleted from its records.

"The most important principle of the PDPA is that when a data user is using the personal data of consumers for commercial purposes, consent must first be obtained from the data owners," said Personal Data Protection commissioner Abu Hassan Ismail.

The PDPA was formed primarily to regulate the processing of personal data for commercial purposes and safeguard consumers' rights amid the explosion of data in the world.

Other than obtaining consumers' consent, data users must comply with six other principles of the Act, including ensuring that the data processed is accurate and taking practical steps to prevent it from loss, misuse or unauthorised access.

Failure to comply with any of these principles is punishable by up to RM300,000 fine or three years' jail or both.

Personal data is information such as name, address, telephone number, MyKad number, images from CCTV recording, bank account and credit card details, as well as any expression of opinion about a person.

Consumers have the right to check their personal data with any data user to ensure they are not misused or abused.

Abu Hassan said the authorities received 800 to 1,000 complaints of data leakages or abuses every month, including unauthorised selling of data to third parties.

The Act is to create a culture of respect and trust in the management of personal data in the country.

"We hope that public confidence will grow now that the Act has been enforced.

"At the same time, the public must find out more about their rights as consumers and how to protect their personal information," Abu Hassan said.

"They should always look at the fine print before giving their consent," he said.

Abu Hassan added that the public can raise their personal data concerns or grouses to his department when the three months compliance period ends on Feb 15.

KOTA KINABALU: For the past four months, a group thought they had found the perfect place to grow an illegal crop – two plush condominium units at the exclusive Signal Hill area near downtown here.

They had special paraphernalia such as devices to ensure cannabis plants grew faster. But everything was unrooted on Jan 29 when a police narcotics team raided the condominium units and arrested five people including a French woman.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the narcotics team raided the first condominium unit at about 11.30am and arrested the French woman, in her 30s, and a local 25-year-old man.

He said police recovered 19 cannabis plants growing in pots with one already "harvested".

About an hour later, the team raided another unit within the same condominium complex and seized five cannabis plants. He said police also recovered about half a kilogramme of processed cannabis placed in three packages.

Comm Hamza said a maid was picked up from the second condominium unit, adding that two men who walked in were also arrested.

He said police were investigating the case under Section 6B of the Dangerous Drugs Act which carries life imprisonment upon conviction as well as Section 39B of the same Act which provides for the mandatory death sentence.

He said initial police investigations showed that the French woman had been in Sabah for about a year.

"From the equipment we seized, this was definitely a professional approach in the way the cannabis plants were cultivated," he added.

ROZLAN Noor's latest crime thriller, unlike his last three books (of the much-acclaimed Inspector Mislanseries), is told from the point of view of the criminal. The premise of the story is grand, and the author seems to have a solid vision of the entire caper, which has Danny Ocean levels of planning involved.

Bayu, which means "wind" in Malay, is a master criminal, known throughout the international underworld as "The Planner" for his uncanny ability to plan and carry out major heists without being caught.

For his last caper before retirement, the master criminal decides to kidnap a foreign national in the hopes of pitting his wits against the best law-enforcement personnel in the world. What he doesn't realise is that the target is the grandson of the US Secretary of State. What should have been a simple kidnap and ransom operation is suddenly turned into a terrorist hunt with the CIA, US Special Operations, and Islamic terrorist groups getting involved. Bayu has taken on a lot more than he bargained for.

Unfortunately, most of the book is spent trying to convince us that the protagonist, the self-styled "Bayu", is a master planner without actually revealing any of the planning. This takes away greatly from the reader's enjoyment of the story as we are told over and over again how complex this plan is and how famed the main character is as a criminal mastermind.

Another negative aspect of this book is what seems to be bad editing. Not having read the author's previous works, I am unfamiliar with his style of writing. However, there are parts of the text that read almost as though they were written by two different writers. Assuming that the voice of the author is written in mature prose, there are several places in the text where it seems that a much younger writer is filling in the blanks.

There are also some spelling mistakes, and the feel of the book seems cheapened to me by the overall quality of the editing. This is unfortunate, as it appears that between mind, pen and editor, the flow of the story and the build-up to the second half is compromised.

It is difficult to deduce if the intended audience for this book is meant to be mostly local or foreign. There is dialogue within the story that seems painfully contrived, such as the initial conversation between Inspector Mala and Bayu. However, within the same chapter, the conversation between Rosni, a reporter, and Bayu seems effortless and natural. These contrasts occur in several places throughout the book – they began to jump out at me before I got halfway through the book.

In addition to this, the interactions between foreigners and locals are very stiff, not only between law enforcement officials, which is expected, but also between most characters, whether criminals or lovers. These details, though small, tend to pile up quickly and adds further to the already choppy flow of the book.

I found the first 180 pages of Bayu slow-paced and a little boring. It starts off with an adventure at sea by two professional divers, a short story that doesn't seem to have any connection with the main plot.

The second chapter picks up a little, with the actual kidnapping happening. One feels slightly let down when the third through umpteenth chapters are full of Bayu playing what feels like a childish game of cat and mouse with the authorities. The antagonist, Assistant Superintendent Ong, plays a losing game of wits against the simple tactics used by Bayu throughout the whole book and by the end, sounds as though he may be in love with his own romanticised idea of the master criminal. Put plainly, the last time I saw police this bumbling was in The Blues Brothers.

The last 70 pages of the book, however, become very engaging, and it is a pity that this fast-paced flow is not evident throughout the book. I found it hard to put it down once events began moving.

Rozlan Noor has an evident talent for descriptive and detailed stories and this is put to good use in these last chapters. Everything that happens at the beginning of the book is tied together and it all begins to make sense. The only nagging thought I had at the end was that it was wrapped up a little too neatly, but that could just be my own cynicism at work.

Overall, the character of Bayu never really becomes an engaging, real person. I think that it would be interesting to watch this master planner at work again; hopefully, the author will write prequels or sequels that will bring this character to life.

I OFTEN tell the Malaysians who attend my creative writing classes to write about Malaysians and to give their stories a Malaysian setting. To me, not writing about ourselves is a wasted opportunity.

There is not much Malaysian literature in English and I feel that fiction about Malaysians and Malaysia should, by and large, be written by us. We can't expect others not to tell our stories but we must do so as well.

When a foreigner writes a Malaysian story, the focus shifts. And I feel the same about Malaysian stories published by international publishing houses.

In the latter case, the books are being written with a foreign audience in mind. The authors (and publishers) might feel compelled to over-explain some things, play up others. In the former case, foreigners naturally don't think and feel the same as Malaysians. They don't have the same insight or concerns or baggage so it's not possible for them to create convincing Malaysian characters.

When I read a Malaysian story written by a non-Malaysian (be it Frank Swettenham or W. Somerset Maugham, Anthony Burgess or Paul Callan) I feel that they are telling their version of things and it makes me wish that there were more Malaysian versions to redress the balance. As Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe said, "Although the work of redressing which needs to be done may appear too daunting, I believe it is not one day too soon to begin."

Marc de Faoite is originally from Ireland. He now lives in Langkawi. Tropical Madness is his first collection of short stories, but he has been published before, in various anthologies, including Sini Sana: Travels In Malaysia, Fish Eats Lion, and Love In Penang. De Faoite's stories feature, according to the back cover blurb of Tropical Madness, "gritty back streets" and "remote rubber estates", "fishing boats" and "ancient rainforests", "dark magic", "transsexuals", and "sex slaves" – just what readers in search of "exotic Asia" want, and also in keeping with Fixi Novo's pulp fiction focus.

They are interesting as stories go – de Faoite provides plenty of stirring details, dutifully ticking all the sense boxes, but these don't reveal enough about his characters, whom I feel are at the heart of his tales and whose psyches are not adequately explored. Their lives are all dramatic turns of events, ending with shocking twists or portentous statements, but the gaudy surface smear of violence, deception, lust and greed give only an impression of shape and depth.

These are actors playing the parts de Faoite has written for them. He tells you what they are and how they feel, and you respond because his narratives are evocative and engaging.

However, I didn't feel any emotional connection. What lies in the depths of these hearts, what secret motives spur them on or hold them back – I caught fleeting glimpses of these things, but I didn't feel them, because de Faoite does not let the reader get close enough. Perhaps because he's not close enough himself.

It goes back to the difficulty in understanding what it's like to be a Malaysian, in imagining what is it's like to feel and believe certain things, and think in certain ways. This is expected, but as the stories attempt to portray the lives of Malaysians and their struggles, one expects a more thorough exploration of the beliefs, practices and attitudes depicted.

At least the author writes with empathy – his characters may be playing roles, but these are flesh-and-blood, living-and-breathing parts that the author has imagined quite clearly albeit somewhat shallowly.

De Faoite simply needs to do some burrowing, through their messy guts and down to their throbbing hearts and bare bones. He needs not just to imagine his characters' pain, their desires, fears and joys, but feel all these emotions enough to translate them into words that don't just produce a passing thrill but create a lasting impression.

Malaysia has been, for some time now, de Faoite's home. I would say that he should not be seen as an outsider but considered part of the local community of writers who must carry out the aforementioned work of redressing.

In de Faoite's case, there is really the advantage of having lived on both sides of the divide. His experiences as an expatriate could be fodder for stories that, because he is now resident and has, presumably, deeper insights into Malaysian life, could avoid the condescension and flippancy that are a feature of the work of many Western authors writing about Asia and Asians.

Actually, I wonder at the absence of this point of view in this collection – might de Faoite have feared coming across as patronising? I think this danger is avoidable if a writer is aware of it, and approaches a story sympathetically and honestly.

I look forward to more stories from de Faoite. I look forward to seeing him grow as an author, especially in terms of one who writes about the people he has chosen to live among.

You are subscribed to email updates from BooksTo stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.